In the Star Dou Great Forest, Zhao Wuji had everyone eat sausages to heal their injuries, and then led them to continue searching for Xiao Yan and his companions deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Whoosh!"
As the flight effect of the Mushroom Sausage disappeared, the wings on Xiao Yan's back also gradually vanished.
"Strange, could it be this isn't the right direction...?"
Xiao Yan frowned deeply as he sensed the complete silence around him.
Along the way, he did find the footprints of the King of the Forest twice, but after that, he saw no trace of them again.
As for Tang San, he was never seen even once.
"I hope we don't get separated..."
Xiao Yan's brows furrowed with worry. Tang San was not in good condition, and the Star Dou Great Forest was extremely dangerous. He had to find him as soon as possible.
" Soul Division Martial Soul, merge!"
A dark, humanoid phantom appeared behind Xiao Yan and merged into his body.
His senses expanded continuously, but he couldn't detect any familiar presence within a radius of several hundred meters.
After determining the direction, Xiao Yan continued on his way.
Soon, Xiao Yan smelled a strong, fishy stench, and then a swamp appeared in front of Xiao Yan.
Looking at the wide, foul-smelling swamp ahead, Xiao Yan frowned as he observed it.
These special terrains are generally natural lairs or territories of some Magical Beast.
Sure enough, Xiao Yan soon spotted a crimson figure at the edge of the swamp.
It was a frog-like Soul Beast with a reddish-brown body, its skin covered with black and white stripes, and its eyes were crimson.
" Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog..."
Xiao Yan couldn't help but recall the books in the Grandmaster's room, and quickly identified the specific type of the Soul Beast.
Although this Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog lives in swampy areas, it is a renowned solitary Soul Beast.
Or perhaps, this swamp was created because of the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog.
Any Soul Beast that ventured into the swamp became its meal.
The most terrifying aspect of the Red-Visaged Back-Striped Frog is its ability to detect fast-moving objects and the black and white stripes on its back that contain a high concentration of toxins.
The age of the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog is determined by the black and white stripes on its back, with each stripe representing one hundred years.
Upon closer inspection, Xiao Yan noticed seventeen black and white stripes on the back of the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog, indicating that the Soul Beast had reached the age of seventeen hundred years.
"Seventeen hundred years..."
According to the Grandmaster, the theoretical limit for the Third Soul Ring should be around 1,760 years.
Therefore, the age of this Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog was just right for Xiao Yan.
"Call out!"
Just then, a two-headed eagle flew across the sky, and the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog that had been sitting on the shore suddenly shot out a bright red tongue from its mouth.
It pierced through the two-headed eagle's body, pulled it back to its mouth, and swallowed it whole.
"Wow, that's fast!"
Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed as he watched the tongue retract.
After two days of searching without encountering a suitable Soul Beast, Xiao Yan's gaze fell on the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog, and he silently noted its location.
They planned to return and collect the Soul Ring after finding Tang San and the others.
After all, the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog is different from other Soul Beast. This Soul Beast will not easily leave the swamp area, so Xiao Yan is not worried about it changing its location.
However, as soon as Xiao Yan turned around, alarm bells rang in his mind!
"Call!"
With a near-perfect turn, Xiao Yan kept his lower body still while twisting his upper body ninety degrees backward.
A scarlet tongue almost grazed his body before piercing through the tree trunk beside him.
"We've been discovered!"
As soon as the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog moved, Xiao Yan knew that his whereabouts had been exposed.
Without stopping, he ran quickly into the distance.
Now is not the time to hunt for Soul Ring; he is more concerned about Xiao Wu, who has been captured by the Titan Giant Ape, and Tang San, who has ventured deep into the Star Dou Great Forest.
Unfortunately, the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog's dynamic vision makes it extremely adept at hunting.
Especially prey that is on the move.
"Call out!"
The Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog, having just retracted its tongue, stuck it out again. With a powerful push from its hind legs, it covered a distance of more than ten meters and rapidly approached Xiao Yan.
"You're really asking for it, aren't you?!"
Sensing the movement of the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog behind him, Xiao Yan's eyes flashed with intense killing intent.
His forward momentum faltered, and he pushed off the giant tree in front of him with the sole of his foot, propelling himself backward in an instant.
He not only evaded the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog's tongue, but also closed the distance between them.
Cold Fire: Soul Armor!
Cold Fire: Condensed Soul Stab!
Xiao Yan's eyes sharpened, and with two consecutive Soul Skill activated, armor and an ice crystal spear appeared in his hands.
I'll let you eat!
Xiao Yan approached the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog, and thrust his ice crystal spear toward the frog's lower jaw.
"Laugh!"
The ice crystal spear pierced the poisonous frog's lower jaw, and the paralyzing effect on the soul inherent in the Martial Soul slowed down the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog's thinking considerably.
" Mountain-Bombarding Fist!"
With his right hand braced against the ice crystal spear, Xiao Yan used his left Dou Technique to punch the poisonous frog in the chin once more.
From bottom to top, the poisonous frog was punched directly into the air.
Soul Power exploded within the Red-Eyed Back-Striped Frog's body, causing its jaws to snap shut with tremendous force from the punch, and its previously taut tongue to droop down.
Now that he had made his move, Xiao Yan would no longer hesitate.
Without stopping, they were already waiting at the landing spot of the poisonous frog before it even touched the ground.
" Lion Mountain Split!"
With the Martial Soul Fusion, Xiao Yan can unleash the full power of every Dou Technique.
In addition, the mental paralysis effect of the Martial Soul on the poisonous frog completely stunned it.
Bang bang bang!
The Martial Soul enveloped Xiao Yan's body, like a humanoid flame, bombarding the body of the Red-Visaged Back-Striped Frog in circles.
"Wait! Spare their lives!"
On the other side, Tang San finally managed to kill the Man Faced Demon Spider, but unexpectedly encountered the Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang again.
The old man beside him was none other than the " Dragon Duke " that Zhao Wuji had mentioned.
Tang San never expected that the Soul Beast he attacked again would be Meng Yiran's Soul Beast once more.
Fortunately, just as Dragon Duke was about to make his move, Zhao Wuji and the others finally found Tang San and stopped him in time.
As Zhao Wuji whispered something, Dragon Duke's expression changed several times, and he looked at Tang San with a hint of surprise.
"So you are... the Grandmaster's disciple, never mind..."
Tang San felt it was all a bit unreal. How could a mere level 30 Grandmaster be able to make the Soul Saint- level Dragon Duke wary?
" Tang San, didn't you run into Xiao Yan?"
At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing, who was standing to the side, looked around and suddenly asked a question.
Tang San was stunned.
"Senior brother? Isn't he with you?"
"He saw Xiao Wu being captured and knew you wouldn't give up, so he took the Mushroom Sausage from Oscar early on and flew straight into the depths after you. You didn't run into each other, did you?"
Zhu Zhuqing frowned, a sense of unease creeping into her heart.
"Boom!"
Just then, the sounds of explosions from a battle echoed in the distance, clearly audible within the silent forest.
"Could that be Xiao Yan over there?"
Oscar spoke with concern, Zhu Zhuqing, standing beside him, reacted even faster:
"I'll go check the situation first."
As soon as she finished speaking, she leaped up the giant tree like a nimble cat, bounding towards the direction from which the sound came.
"Senior Dragon Duke, would it be possible to trouble you for a moment to look after these children for me?"
A hint of helplessness appeared on Zhao Wuji's face as he spoke to Dragon Duke and the others standing not far away.
"Impossible!"
Before the Dragon Duke could speak, the Snake Granny beside him retorted first, her face full of anger.
"I haven't even investigated how you repeatedly stole my granddaughter's Soul Beast, and now you want our help..."
"Alright!" Dragon Duke, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up as his gaze fell on Tang San.
Everyone was stunned.
"Thank you very much, senior."
Of the crowd, only Zhao Wuji and Dragon Duke knew what was going on.
Zhao Wuji bowed respectfully and then followed Zhu Zhuqing toward the location from which the explosion had occurred.
" Mubai, you're in charge of everyone's safety first."
Zhao Wuji's gaze fell on the absent-minded Dai Mubai, and then he strode away.